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Lately I've been forgetting that I'm in no way related to the people I spend most of my time with. Our interactions just seem so natural, so... made for each other. We met at different times, and each time a new introduction was made, we just hit it off right away. Meeting Matt in the library at college, him introducing me to Pat at work, Cody finding me in the student lounge and later introducing me to his boyfriend Mike, who shared a class with me, and finally meeting Gabby when she moved to town and applied for a job... and suddenly we're a family. Matt and Pat now share an apartment, where I spend more time than at home. Mike and Cody frequently sleep over there, and Gabby visits when she can.

We do everything together: we go to school, go to work, eat out, hang out, do whatever. Most of the time we just talk. We can spend hours and hours talking about anything from politics to religion to health to relationships to what happened on the latest Naruto episode, and while we don't agree on everything, we've still managed to not get completely sick of one another. Yeah, we've had our fights, but that's the beauty of our group:  we're not all fighting at once, so clearer heads are always available to help those with problems.

I was talking to Pat about future plans today. He wants to work for the next year, then ask Gabby to move cross-country with him, back to her hometown. Mike and Cody have been talking about moving to the southwest to live with Cody's family for awhile, and Matt and I are planning on staying here, at least until we graduate college. The prospect kind of excites me because I finally have a plan, but at the same time, it saddens me. I know I'm going to miss my new family like crazy once we're scattered across the country. But I know we'll always be a family like this. We'll always have each others' backs, and we'll find ways to keep in touch.